Second chance at childhood
by milestogo
Summary: Michael is killed, but with the help of the granolith, he's back, but he's 5, hope you can understand it, and i'm not above begging for reviews *grin*
1. Default Chapter

Out of the depths, I cry to thee O'lord 

We really don't know how it happened, one minute Michael was right behind us and the next he was gone. We were running from the skins. Isabel had been shot in her side but I had managed to heal her before we had to run. I had taken the front, in case any skins decided to take us from there, and Isabel was running in the middle, with Michael behind us. Maria, Liz, and Alex were somewhere in between. We had put Isabel in the middle so that the ones of us without "gifts" could be protected from all sides. Well, we were running, and when we finally had the courage to look behind us, all the skins were gone. The problem was, so was Michael. This is the story of how we got him back. My name is Max and I screwed up royally. 

******** 

"Where the hell is he?!" Maria screeched. 

"He probably went to the corner to check and make sure everything was clear," Isabel replied, but everyone could tell by her voice that she was hoping. 

"I'll be back." I said. I walked around the entire block but I couldn't find him. When I went back, we got another shock. 

"King Zan, I presume?" It was a skin. I don't know how I can tell, I just can. I 'presume' Izzy could too because she put up a shield before I had the chance to. 

"Where is he?" Liz asked, in a deathly calm voice. I had still been trying to form a coherent sentence. I looked over to Maria, and I noticed that Alex was holding her back, with his hand over her mouth. I couldn't make out what he was whispering to her, but I got the gist of it. "We don't need you gone too." 

"My name is Willy." the man said with an extrememly cocky voice. Yeah, let's see how cocky you are without a head. "I have come to deliver a message to you." 

"Get on with it, troll." Isabel growled. Yep, even in a time of crisis Izzy still refuses to curse. One of her 'goals' in life is to live by my mom's rules. Don't get me wrong, I don't especially enjoy cursing, but if I get mad enough, I don't mind one bit. 

"What the *hell* did you do to my brother?!" I hissed. 

"I'm just supposed to tell you where you can pick him up at. Nicholas should be done with him in a couple of hours." he smirked. Yep, sleep tight tonight buddy, cause you won't see tomorrow. 

"Where?" Liz asked, breathless. I had the feeling she had been waiting to hear if we *would* see him again. 

"Do you know that spot in Frasier Woods, where you all went camping last year?" Yeah, we knew it. How could we forget. That is where we first met 'Nacedo.' The lying asshole. He and 'Tess' screwed us over too. It took forever but Liz told me about how a "Future Max" had come to her, and that's when we figured out that 'Tess,' might be using her powers on others. We found them out and then drove them out. We told them we would kill them if they came back. We probably should have done it then, but we didn't want another death on our hands. 

"MAX!!!" Izzy screamed. 

"What?" I asked, as I was snapped out of my thoughts. 

"He just disappeared. How could he do that? And what were you doing? Or thinking? Or daydreaming because this isn't the time to be having sex dreams about Li...." 

I cut her off before she could continue, "No, I was just thinking what if Tess and Necedo had something to do with this?" 

"Maybe, but right now we have to get to Frasier Woods. He'll be dropped off there within the next couple of hours. " The question running through all our minds was, would he be okay, because that's not very long to keep an enemy. 

******CHAPTER 2********** 

"We had been sitting around for the past couple of hours, and everybody was getting very impatient. Just when we thought we had reached our breaking point, something in the air began to shimmer. 

"Look, it's the same thing that guy did before he reappeared!" Maria screeched. It started to take form. When we could finally make out Michael, we could also make out the fact that his eyes were closed and there was a handprint burned into his clothes and chest. Nacedo. 

We all ran up to him. I got there first, followed by Maria, then Izzy, the Liz, then Alex. I checked for a pulse. His skin felt cold. *No, he was just kept somewhere cold* The stupid line kept replaying in my head even after I found that there was no pulse. I don't know how long I sat there, with Maria's sobs and Isabel's rant of words even I didn't know passing over me as if the wind blew them away. I was underwater, and no one could reach me. Alex and Liz seemed to be the only sane ones, because Liz started to shake me, and Alex tried to pull Michael out of my arms. That is what brought me to the surface. 

"NO!" I screamed savagely, rocking my precious bundle back and forth, back and forth, like he was a child. 

"Max," Liz crooned, like one would to a baby, "We need to get him back, to the granolith, maybe it can help him." 

"Alright, Alright," I murmured. I carried him by myself to the car, I wouldn't let anyone else help me, not that it mattered, I seemed to have some strength even I didn't know of. 

*** 

At the granolith chamber, we gingerly leaned him up against the slick silver metal. As soon as we did, we could hear a humming. Everyone was looking around the room, trying to find out where the noise had come from. Then we were all knocked to the floor by some unseen force. The granolith. 

"Is everyone all right?" I choked out. 

"Good," everyone called out. Well, everyone except for Maria. 

"Where is Michael?" I heard her whisper. I whipped around to find that he was gone too. His clothes though, were in the same position he was before. 

"Come on, we'll go look for him out in the pod chamber. Maybe he's waiting out there for us, like a surprise." I said, more wishing then hoping. 

As we started to crawl through Isabel's old pod, to get back to the entrance, Alex noticed something, a bit, well, off. "Why is the one in the top right full?" he asked. 

I scrambled through to look at it. Yep, there was Michael again, except he was 5. How the hell did that happen? Oh yeah, the crappy granolith. Isabel reached up to put her hand on it. He kicked. Michael kicked. Like a baby in the womb. We had to get some answers, fast. 

Alex had the best idea. "Why don't Maria and I stay here while you, Isabel, and Liz go ask Riverdog to see if he knows what to do. 

I was up for it, except Izzy didn't want to leave him. "No, he's my brother, I have to take care of him." She breathed. 

"You're taking care of him by coming with us, too." 

"No, Max, he is my brother, I am staying. Besides, what if Tess were to come back? Who would protect him?" She had a point. So Liz and I jumped in the jeep headed toward the Indian Reservation, so that we could save my brother, just like we did before. 

CHAPTER 3*** 

"Do you know what happened to him?" I had trouble keeping my voice low enough so that we were `allowed' to speak to him. 

"He is needed, so he is being reborn. That is all I can tell you." He stated, like it wasn't a big deal, like it wasn't my best friend's, my only brother's life on the line. 

"No. Tell us when he will be `reborn.' Tell us if he will be 17 or will he be 6 and have to grow up all over again. Tell us what is going on!" Now, you would think that this was me, right? Wrong, it was Liz. 

"You will know, and that, is up to him. Now, if I tell you anymore I am going to be in a lot of trouble. Please leave." He stated. Why would he be in trouble? 

"Wait, how do you know all this?" I asked. 

"You will find out in time." And then he was gone. 

*** 

We got back to the pod chamber at around midnight. We knew that nobody was planning on going home so we stopped of at everyone's home, made up and excuse that would fit every family (we couldn't say that Maria was sleeping over at Michael's, like we told my parents I would be doing, eh?), and made our way up the mountain. As soon as I opened the `door' I was bombarded with questions. 

"What did he say?" 

"Is he gonna be okay?" 

"Did you bring any grub?" 

"Okay everyone, I hope you all like Burger King, cause that is what we got. We brought everyone's clothes and crap, and when we're all settled we will tell you every little detail." That was Liz again. Maybe she should be king. I wouldn't mind. 

I looked up at our little pod friend, and wondered if he was hungry. Not like you could feed him anyway, I just kinda wondered. 

As soon as we got everyone settled, Liz by me, Isabel by Alex, Maria by the wall next to Michael, and me guarding the door, we told them everything. Isabel was furious. 

"How could he tell you that and not expect us to want to be told more?" she fumed. 

"We don't know, we just..." I was cut off by this strange feeling in my gut. I would have blown it off as a stomach ache had Isabel been doing the same thing. And Liz. And Maria. And even Alex. That's when I looked up. He was coming out. 

"Crap, Liz, will you go grab that blanket? Alex, those clothes? Maria will you... Maria!" she was totally not listening to me. She was staring at him, with an expression of glee on her face. Well, I would have looked like that too but I didn't have time. 

"Isabel, guard the door, I'll see if I can help him." I had to gently push Maria out of the way, before I could make my way over to him. He had the top pod, just like before, and I didn't know how hard it would be for him to get out. It was a good thing I did, because 2 seconds later he slipped and fell into my arms. 

"Hey buddy." I cooed. I didn't know if he would remember me or not, so I just tried to act like one would to any infant, because that's what we were last time we came out. We couldn't do anything for ourselves. He knew how to talk though, at least in our heads. 

I said don't use their faces anymore. Please don't use their faces. 

I didn't know what he was talking about, but he pushed himself out of my arms and fell to the ground. I didn't know what he was talking about. Then it hit me. Nicholas and Necedo. 

"No, buddy, it's me. Maxi. And there's Izzy, and there is Alex, Maria, and Liz." 

Tell me something only you would know, if your actually him. God, he was so scared, I would kill them for this. 

Oh, code word. We had made these up a long time ago. 

"Michael has a fluffylumpkins in the back of his closet, that goes well with his chickenbutt salad." Don't even say it. We made them up when we were ten, and fluffylumpkins was all Isabel. 

I could hear Alex snorting behind us, and I could hear Maria and Liz's giggling, but nothing prepared me for what happened next. Michael threw himself around my neck. 

Please don't leave me, please don't leave me, please don't leave me.... 

It was like his mantra. My heart broke, then and there. I just held him while he cried. He had never let us see him cry before. When he finally fell asleep, Isabel came over with a blanket. She wrapped him up, and sat down next to me with him in her arms. 

"He's coming with us. We'll work out the details with mom and dad later." 

I had to agree with her. "Kay." 

CHAPTER 4***** 

The next morning when we all woke up, Michael was nowhere to be found. We freaked. And that was an understatement. 

"Where did he go!?" everyone screamed. We tore apart that cave, looking for him. 10 minutes later the cave door opened. It was Michael. He had put on some of my old clothes that we had brought him. 

"Where did you go?" 

"Don't ever leave without one of us." 

"Where did you go?" 

He stayed silent through the entire thing, never caving, and never flinching at the way we were yelling at him. It wasn't until Maria went over and hugged him did he say anything. 

"I just had to pee." He stated, like a whining child. Well, he was one now. 

"Come on, we have to hurry, it's almost noon and we told your parents we'd be back sometime in the afternoon." I stated. Actually, we never gave an exact time as to when we would be back, I just wanted to get back. Easiest way to do it. 

"Okay, why don't we all go to the Crashdown. Maria and I have to work the lunch shift anyway, and then we can get something into all of our stomachs. Especially Michael, I don't know how he's gone this long without food, the way he eats." Liz joked. 

"Actually," he stated, "There were some candy bars in the jetta and tabasco sauce in the jeep." 

"You little rat! I was gonna have those!" Maria stated, though you could tell she didn't really care, it was just nice to joke with him. 

"I think I dropped part of one outside of your car. You can still have that one." He said, while batting his eyelashes at her. I feel bad for him all ready. He was gonna pay for that one later. I don't know how and I'm not sure I really want to know, but I knew he would. 

"Hey Maxi, when are we gonna leave. I `m still hungry." He said. Crap, I forgot my cash. 

"We'll run by the house first, to grab some money, then we'll head to the Crashdown." I said. 

"It's okay, I have some money in the pockets of my jeans." He ran through Isabel's old pod into the granolith chamber. I shouted after him to come back, that I would get it. We all ran after him, to find him staring at his clothes, that were layed out on the floor, exactly like he had been previously, with a perfect view of the burnt handprint in his shirt. That's what we didn't want him to see. 

"I remember it. Most all of it. I remember running, the woods, where Isabel broke her sacred pact, where Maria cried, where Max carried me, and don't ask me how you did that! I remember Liz and Alex taking up when Max couldn't, I don't know how, because I was dead, but I remember it. " We just listened, "I remember being propped up in here, then floating, then being back in the pod, when I felt Isabel. I didn't want to leave, but then I knew that you all were waiting for me, so then I knew that it would be okay to be out. I don't remember coming out, I just remember waking up content. And warm. Not like last time. I was happy. I don't remember anything about how I got to be, well, like this. But I have a feeling that had something to do with it." As he pointed to his shirt. "What happened to me?" 

None of us could answer him. "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?" he screamed, and when he turned, we could see he had tears making tracks down his face. 

I rushed up to him, "We don't really know. We just know that someone told us to come get you at Frasier Woods. We would have come and gotten you, but we didn't even have time to figure out where you were. God, we are so sorry." I tried to get him to look at me, but he wouldn't meet my eyes. "Michael, please...." I pulled him into a tight embrace. 

"How to I get back to how I was before?" he whispered to me. 

"That's something you have to figure out." I whispered back. 

CHAPTER 5***** 

An hour later we were back in the Crashdown, explaining to my parents why we would be having a mini-Michael staying with us. 

"Mom, look, Michael had to go take care of his Aunt that he just found, and we don't know how long he will be gone, and he couldn't take care of her and little Michael (we told them his aunt had named him after our Michael after he was lost), so we offered to take care of him until then. So is it okay?" Isabel said. She was always better at getting to the good side of my parents. It was from the practice of tricking them out of their charge cards for years. 

"Well, I guess it would be okay. But he is your responsibility. No disappearing for days on end when you have him to take care of. And don't think we won't be talking about where you go when you do that." Dad said. Thank goodness. 

"We promise!" we both said. 

"Okay, well, we have to get back to the office now. We expect you to be back home for dinner at 6:30 sharp." 

"Okay, be there at 6:00." I said. We had to stay on their good side. 

As our parents exited the Crashdown, we heard the bell ring above. That's when Michael made his way over to us. He sat down next to me. I was so into my conversation with Liz that I didn't notice Michael. I don't know how I didn't notice it, because even Liz noticed it. 

"Michael, what's wrong?" she asked. I looked over at Michael. His face was white. He was breathing rapidly. I've never seen him have a panic attack before. 

"Michael?" I tried to shake him. That's when I noticed what he was looking at. Hank. I had never seen him in here before. "Liz, Maria, will you take Michael in the back ? Like quick." I said. Liz and Maria got the message quick all right. Maria picked him up and hurried out of sight, Liz on her heels. I could hear her as they left telling him to calm down, that everything would be okay. I stood up blocking him from going back there. 

"Can I help you?" I asked him, with as much of a calm voice as I could muster. 

"Where's the little bastard? He was supposed to mow the lawn." He slurred. 

"He doesn't live with you anymore. He got emancipated, remember?" I growled. How could he possibly come in here to ask for him? How did he have the nerve? 

"Look, I just want what is mine, and then I'll leave. I don't want to be in this dump any more then you do." Did he even know what he was saying. 

He tried to get past me, but I guess Alex had called Sheriff Valenti, because that's when he and his deputy dogs came in and took him away. Good thing he did, because I was getting the power needed to send him flyin' stored, and I'm guessing that Izzy could tell, because she grabbed my arm and absorbed it all. 

"Come on, let's go check on Michael." Isabel said. We practically knocked over every table on the way to get back there. Good thing it was a slow day, most everybody had chosen the booths. 

In the back, Maria was holding Michael in her lap, calming him down, while Liz had been watching the door. We had seen her face in the little square of glass. "Michael, he's gone, see?" Liz had held open the door so that he could see for himself. 

"Sorry, guys." He muttered. 

"No, it's okay, feel better?" Maria asked. She had been rubbing circles around his back. 

"Yeah, I do." He said. 

"Well, anyone wanna go back to our place?" Izzy asked. "I think Michael should go to sleep for a while." 

"I don't need a nap. I'm not actually 6. Remember, I'm 17." He said defiantly. 

"Michael, you're..."Michael cut her off. 

"Izzy, I don't..." I cut them both off. 

"We need to get back anyway. So, who's in?" I asked. 

"Me." 

"I'm in." 

"Sounds good." 

"Do I get a say in this?" 

"No, you don't Michael." Izzy hissed. Yep, now the ice queen was back in all her glory. 

CHAPTER 6**** 

Michael was asleep before we even got to the house. We had always known that car rides put him to sleep. Izzy and I would be paying for this one later. 

I carried him upstairs to my room. My dad had set up a cot in there. I put him in my bed. I would brave the cot for a while. 

As I made my way downstairs, I couldn't help but have a smile glued to my face. We actually had Michael back. He could be back to normal in no time. That was just up to him. 

Liz approached me as soon as I had taken my foot off the last stair. "How are we going to get him to be 17 again?" I had a feeling that the whole group had conspired to send her to ask me. Izzy would be too forceful, Maria would cry, and Alex wouldn't have the effect on me that Liz would. I felt like I was approaching the mafia, the way they had planned this out in that short of time. 

"I don't know. Riverdog said it was up to him." I explained. I made my way into the living room and I saw that they had been listening. It's not hard to guess when they all run back to their places with you in the room. Just as I sat down the screaming began. 

"PLEASE! DON'T! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU `RE TALKING ABOUT! I WON'T TELL YOU!" 

We raced up the stairs to find Michael screaming in the fetal position. He was soaked with sweat and crying. Maria reached him first. She pulled him onto her lap and began to try and wake him up. "Shhhhhhh, it's okay baby. We're here. It's okay. Nobody's gonna hurt our baby when we're here." She was doing the thing again where she rubbed circles along his back. He was calm in no time. I began to wonder how she knew how to do that. I'm guessing so did Alex. 

"How did you get him to stop?" He asked. Yep, he was wondering. 

"When he would come to my room after, well, you know, Hank, I would do this and he would go right to sleep. It hasn't failed me yet." She answered, while looking fondly at his back. Well, more than fondly, but that is the only word that described how I felt she was looking at him. 

"I think we should leave her up here with him, you know, in case it happens again." Oddly enough, it was Izzy that said this. I thought she would want that job, because she's always felt overprotective about us. 

"Yeah, Isabel is right. We'll just go wait downstairs." Liz said. She and Iz were looking at each other strange, like they knew something they weren't letting on. 

When we got downstairs, Iz immediately laid down on the couch and started to take slow, even breaths. She was going to dreamwalk him. 

Half an hour later she woke up with a disgusted look on her face. "What?" we all asked. 

"He's dreaming mushy stuff about Maria and him. I swear, it reminds me of you and Liz." She said. 

"How do you know what I dream?" Liz asked. 

"Maybe we should go up and check on them, you know, to make sure everything is okay." She said hurriedly. 

Upstairs Maria had fallen asleep with her arm wrapped protectively around his stomach. Since Liz and her had "exchanged" shifts with Agnes and Liz's mom, Maria and Liz had to work the dinner rush, so Liz gently shook Maria awake. We all tiptoed back downstairs to the front door. 

Alex decided to go with them, "I'm feelin' the need for some greasy, fatty food. Know where I can get some?" he asked innocently. 

"I think we can work something out." Liz laughed. 

"Well, we all expect an update tonight, and if we can manage it we'll come back." Maria said. 

Isabel and I watched them go back to their car. Now it was time to wake Michael up for dinner. 

*** 

"Michael, wake up, we heard your stomach growling when we walked in the room, so we know you can't deny my mom's food with that excuse." 

"5 more minutes, k?" he whimpered. 

"C'mon, mom and dad just got home, and they brought pizza, in honor of our house guest." Isabel said brightly. 

"Just 3 minutes then." He replied. We had to make a good impression with my parents tonight, because we didn't know how long he would be like this, so obviously I didn't have time for this. So, I carried him downstairs, him fighting me all the way. "Maxi, if you don't put me down, I'll tell Isabel where you keep your secret stash of Liz crap." I put him down. 

As soon as I set him down he started to wobble. Me and Isabel made a grab for him but he caught himself in time. "I'm good, just stood up too fast." He said nonchalantly. 

*** 

I don't believe it. We made it through dinner without a single mishap. Isabel and I had all the excuses ready, incase Michael forgot and slipped on something, but he was fine, he was the perfect gentlemen. Where did our Michael go? 

We approached him after dinner. "Where did you learn manners?" Isabel inquired. 

"Oh ye of little faith." He smirked. 

CHAPTER 7*** 

Mom and dad had been in bed for at least 2 hours. Isabel and I had been trying to stay awake for the past 3 hours. We hadn't had any sleep in the past 3 days. We had been running, then watching Michael, and now we were watching him again. Of course, he didn't know that. He was asleep, thinking we were doing the same. He would be furious and mortified if he knew we were watching him to make sure he wasn't having any bad dreams. He would kill us if he ever found out. 

The plan was that if he started making any signs of, well, discomfort, Isabel would try to dreamwalk him, while I tried to keep him from screaming by doing that rubby-back-in-circles thingy. I talked to Maria tonight and she explained exactly what to do, not that there was that much to it. But anyway, we had been sitting here for 2 hours because my parents made Michael go to bed 2 hours ago. He was beyond mad about that, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it. 

"Don't do that. Please stop!" He was starting again. I jumped up off the cot while Isabel layed down on it. I gently picked him up and eased over to the side of the bed. Isabel reached up and grabbed his hand. 

I rocked him back and forth for 20 minutes while I was waiting for Izzy to wake up. He silently cried the entire time. At least he wasn't screaming, I kept telling myself. 

Izzy woke up with tears in her eyes. She pulled herself up into a sitting position, and I could tell she was shaking just by looking at her. 

"Iz, what was in there?" I asked. 

"Well, it wa....." she was cut off by the voice of Michael. 

"What were you doing?" he asked. 

"Nothing, you were just upset so we were going to wake you..." this time he cut me off. 

"No, what was Isabel doing in my dream? I saw her in there, and I know when it is my dream and when it is her, I've had the practice to tell them apart." He accused. 

"We were just worried..." Isabel began. 

"No, you had no right to get in my head like that. No right." He pushed himself out of my arms, and scrambled over to the dresser. He started to pull on his jeans and a t-shirt. 

"Where do you think you're goin'?" I asked him. 

"Anywhere but here." He replied. I reached out to grab his arm, before he did something stupid, when the window suddenly opened. 

"Who's your friend?" Nikolas asked, with Nacedo chuckling behind him. 

*** 

"What's your name kid?" Nacedo had stopped laughing at the shocked look on our faces and was in full control mode, like I needed to be in. 

"My names Gabrial. Gabe, to my friends. Who are you?" No wonder Mrs. Vinier asked Michael to be in Drama Club. Well, he did get a LOT of practice in lying with us. 

"Well Gabe..." Nikolas began. 

"Gabe to my friends." Michael said. He made sure to emphasize friends. 

"We don't have time for this. We just need to find the gran..." 

"Look, idiot, we need to scare them into telling us. I have a plan. Don't worry." Nikolas snapped back to Nacedo. They were trying to whisper but we could hear everything. 

"Come here Gabrial. We have a present for you." Nikolas said. I knew he thought that "Gabrial" would think he was just a normal person that didn't know him, and "Gabrial" was really close to the window, but I wasn't about to lose him again. I'm guessing Isabel thought the same. 

We both lunged for Michael just as Michael practically ran backwards. We latched ourselves onto his arms just as Nikolas started to pull him towards the window with his powers. 

"Max, I've got him, you try to block it." Isabel told me, in my head. 

I shot a ball of energy at Nikolas that he was prepared for. Nacedo used his powers to block it. This was going to take a while. I stole a glance at Isabel, who had positioned herself over Michael, like a (pardon the term) human shield. I could also hear Michael screaming at Izzy to let him go, that she didn't need to do that. I finally cracked. 

"Michael, shut the hell up!" I screamed in my head. I could tell he was offended just by my tone. Let's not go into my choice of words or the fact it was screeched. He was like the parent we never wanted. 

Nikolas never seemed to get tired. But he did get bored. "Will this game ever end? I'm tired of it. Come Nesedo, we'll give them time to regenerate." He called Nesedo like one would a pet. It made me sick. He sent a giant ball of energy at me. It knocked me across the room (could you blame me, I had been keeping up a shield for forever!). By the time I looked up, they were gone. I rushed over to Isabel and Michael. They had started to detach themselves from each other. Michael was the first to speak. 

"That was stupid of you Iz, " we started to argue, "BUT, he thank you very much." We sat in stunned silence. Michael never said thank you. In the middle of our basking in the joy of this, he spoke again. "That was pretty loud. Wouldn't your parents have heard?" Our stomachs dropped. 


	2. denial

Thanks for the reviews( it wouldn't let me log in for a while, so I couldn't post( now, onto the fic.  
  
  
  
***  
  
It took 3 1/2 seconds to get down the stairs, across the house, and into our parents bedroom. I don't know what took so long. Michael ran to my mom, and Isabel ran to my dad. I waited at the foot of their bed to see who needed to be healed first. Or if they could still be healed.  
  
"Max, he's... I... I can't find it. The pulse." Isabel whispered. I blanched. "Where is it. He can't be gone!" She had started to get hysterical now. I reached over to her and pulled her into my arms. She buried her head in my chest. I looked over at Michael. He had gone sheet white and was slowly shaking his head. I took a wild guess as to the prognosis. I reached over the bed, took his arm, and pulled him over. He didn't seem to notice. Iz just pulled him into her arms and covered him with herself. It looked like she was trying to protect him like she had done when Nikolas was there. I just wrapped myself around them both. I had to be there for them now. My tears would come later. In private.  
  
***  
  
The sherriff had come an hour ago. He had brought with him that annoying deputy and Liz, Maria, and Alex. It saved us.  
  
Liz had pulled me over to the couch and I had my head in her lap. She was rubbing my head at the temples, and I kept my mind on that. If I kept my mind on that, I would be fine. Isabel was with Alex, on the porch, and I imagine she was doing the same thing, and Michael was with Maria, over on the recliner. Maria was doing that back thing. Again. His eyes were all red-rimmed and glassy. I bet mine looked the same.  
  
Valenti had said we would figure something out to tell everyone else. I didn't particularly care at the moment. Izzy had been rambling since we found them. I had to talk to Valenti, but Michael had been silent. It worried me.  
  
"Max, do you all have somewhere to stay tonight?" Valenti was back. Couldn't he stay away?  
  
"They can stay with me. Mom's at another convention. As you probably know." Maria looked sick.  
  
"Thanks, but you don't have to. We can stay at the hotel on..." Maria cut me off.  
  
"If you lot think you're staying at that rat-infested place, you're crazy as well as stupid. You'll stay with me, and Alex and Liz can too." She looked determined. I didn't feel like arguing. I just let her lead the way.  
  
***  
  
30 minutes later we were piled into the jeta headed to Maria's. Maria driving, Alex and Liz in front, and Isabel, Me, and Michael in the back. Michael had not even protested sitting in the middle. He hadn't even talked yet. He just stared ahead. We just needed to stay close right now. We pulled into her driveway. I climbed out one side, and Isabel climbed out the other. Michael made no move to get out, so I just lifted him into my arms and carried him inside. Alex, Liz, and Isabel got our bags, and Maria went to open the door. That's when we heard her scream. 


End file.
